Movie Reviews

Semi-Pro

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  • Title: Semi-Pro
  • IMDB: link

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I’m not a huge Will Ferrell fan.  I usually prefer my Ferrell in small SNL skits or films which aren’t built entirely around him acting as silly as possible (check out my review for Stranger Than Fiction).  There are exceptions to this rule however as I though Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was a very strong comedy.  Semi-Pro, to me, isn’t as good a film, but for those who enjoyed Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby and/or Blades of Glory this one should be right up your alley (oh wait, that’s bowling).

The movie centers around the Flint, Michigan Tropics, a struggling ABA team and their owner/player/coach Jackie Moon (Will Ferrell).  Moon is hit with the news that the ABA is disbanding and only four teams will make the transition to the NBA.  Trading the team’s washing machine for a washed-up point guard (Woody Harrelson), Jackie tries to will his team into fourth place, and into the NBA, before the end of the season.

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The Other Boleyn Girl

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  • Title: The Other Boleyn Girl
  • IMDB: link

“Our daughters are being traded like cattle for the advancement of men.”

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The story centers around the two Boleyn girls.  The older, more conniving Anne (Natalie Portman) and the sweeter, though simpler, Mary (Scarlett Johansson), are thrust into a world of societal intrigue and deception for which neither is prepared.

The bond between the sisters is put to the test when their father (Mark Rylance) and uncle (David Morrissey) ask Anne to attempt to seduce King Henry VIII (Eric Bana) and become his new mistress, only to discover he prefers the attentions of the other Boleyn girl – Mary.

What follows are schemes upon schemes, plotting, lies and deceptions which will leave England a far different country, and the Boleyn girls far worse for wear.

The story was adapted by Peter Morgan (The Queen) from the historical novel by Philippa Gregory.  Although the novel became a best seller, the film always seems to be grasping for what made the story work on the printed page.

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Penelope

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  • Title: Penelope
  • IMDB: link

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Here is a classic yet modern fairy tale of life and true love. Who hasn’t experienced a touch of Penelope from time to time? Who hasn’t felt loved or appreciated or wanted by another or society because of one flaw or another? Everybody has felt dejected in one format or another and Penelope gives us a lighthearted reach into hope; a lighthearted reach with James McAvoy being the end result and no longer feeling like an outcast. True, I may have read just a little more into a simple fairy tale than what was actually there. Then again, isn’t that what going to the moves is all about?

Here we have Penelope (Christina Ricci) and blue-blooded aristocrat that is the first-born female who receives a gypsies curse. Her family kind of pissed off a gypsy by double crossing her daughter and a curse was put upon the entire family tree, the first girl to be born would have the face of a pig, which will not release that child until she is loved unconditionally by one of her own. Luck would have it that after generations of Wilhern’s born Penelope is the first girl and therefore the cursed.

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Mr. Woodcock

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  • Title: Mr. Woodcock
  • IMDB: link

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How could anybody not laugh at statements and quotes like “Could I get a real bottle please? I’m an alcoholic not a Barbie doll.” or “You must like getting spanked Farley, I guess it runs in the family.“Let’s move past the fact that Mr. Woodcock is never going to be an Oscar contender and certainly has absolutely no redeeming qualities, but go in with a limp mind and a need to laugh and next thing you know your funny bone is going crazy.

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Crossover

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  • Title: Crossover
  • IMDB: link

crossover-posterYou want to know a really dumb idea for a movie?  You want to see a movie staring television actors and video models seemingly chosen at random?  You want to see an example of a film you could beat with $5 and your own camcorder?  You want it?  Well hold your hats folks, ‘cause this one’s for you!

Noah Cruise (Wesley Jonathan) is a good kid.  He does his homework, he loves his grandma, he has a good job, he’s polite and kind, and he sticks by his friends.  Oh, and he’s the next big thing in basketball, except he doesn’t want to be.

Cruise would rather everyone quit the NBA talk and let him go to UCLA on a basketball scholarship to become a doctor.  His life is on track until his longtime friend Tech (Anthony Mackie) asks him for a little favor.

Tech knows about this secret underground basketball league, run by a former NBA agent (Wayne Brady), and wants nothing more than to beat the reigning champs.  Tech pulls his friend into the game calling on an old favor and puts Cruise’s future and life in jeopardy.
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